I thought emotional rap was something Drake had a very firm monopoly on, but Milo has securely placed himself in the conversation of one of the most poignant rappers in the game. The difference between Milo and Drake is, Milo never comes across as whiney or pouty. His very serious, to the point raps hit home in quite a different way than anything Drake has ever done. He talks about everything from the death of his brother to his want to be more pious. It is a very personal, intimate look into his life that appears way more serious and confiding than anything Drake ever says.

Listening to Milo turns on a switch inside me that normally only gets flipped when the saddest acoustic guitar is being played. His quirky way he goes about telling the world about himself is probably one of the most unique styles in rap. Instead of basing most of his persona on bravado, he goes the opposite route and allows himself to be analyzed and over analyzed with the insanely personal things he talks about. If for no other reason than no other rapper wears his heart on his sleeve quite like Milo; Milo should be considered one of the biggest pioneers of rap at this moment with the way he personally strives to move away from the misogyny, violence and greed most raps these days talk about.

And that is all based on his lyrics, which should not over shadow his beat choices and such to the point they don’t even get talked about. His production and beats are very smooth and have little trap or stereotypical sounds that normally are on a rap song. He even samples the band America almost exclusively on Cavalcade, which is definitely not something that happens a lot. He strives to find sounds not normally used and then turn them into something beautiful. Milo is just doing something so fresh and different it is hard to ignore the work he is achieving and 2013 was a spectacular year for him.